All checkpoints lifted. New Orleans residents can come home
Might not have power. So be it. I’m bringing what I can from TX.
It’s about time we were allowed to come home and clean up. I know damn well the City is not going to clean up my street. Mister did that after Katrina. Took him about 4 days. The streets will get cleaned up when we all come back.
Maitri has beeen Tweeting all morning and afternoon. The latest:
WWL footage of overtopping at Florida Ave looks a lot worse than an hour ago.
We’re going to hear a lot of rumors here on out. If you hear something, please pass on a source. If you can’t, ask for confirmation.
And check out local news broadcasts for actual updates. National news can be pretty messy and somewhat inaccurate. They call most of south LA “New Orleans,” for example.
No word from Michael Homan lately.
The Bitch and fam are safe and sound outside LA. Now we wait.
I see, too, that folks I never expected to evacuate left this time.
Last time, I felt dread in the soles of my feet and we left early, were settled in our exile before some people even thought about going. Now, we are on the tail end, leaving at the last moment, wanting to believe it would be all right and we could ride it out.
from Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog
Running like hell in about 15 hours and one bottle of wine. Okay, 2.
It’s hard to think about Katrina or much of anything with Gustav a few days away. If I am ordered to leave, I will go. If not, I’m staying put.
I’ll get back to the post-Flood life post-Gustav and -Hanna.
Meet chet_hix. Here’s his self-disclosure:
And I’m bringing a ton of bias. When McCain decided to take the low road and employ the same tired-ass, fear-and-smear strategy the Republicans have been rolling out since Reagan, I was actually surprised. I thought he was smarter than that. They can’t swift-boat Obama the same way they did Kerry. He’s too good.
This will be tricky. Mister will be in italics. We’ll make chet_hix bold. Ha!
Launch: 8 pm. Bwah-hah-hah!
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Oops. Time adjustment–Al Gore comes up soon. Let the furies loose!
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Mister and I are watching C-SPAN. No pundits, no commercials, just the party people partying.
7:44 PM: Here comes Al. To “Let the Sunshine In.”
7:47: happy bouncy girl with sign
War smack. I’m for it.
7:48: On to the environment!
And right into the across-the-board dumb thinking.
7:50: Yeah. Pretty rote so far. Wait … massive waves of climate refugees …
7:51: McCain has let The Party hound him out of a lot of opinions he used to have.
We need to invest in NOLA schools.
Good Edison quote.
7:52: Al needs to slow down a bit.
7:53: Yeah. It’s like he rehearsed it too many times.
7:54: He’s not even giving people a chance to cheer.
Still hitting the change thing. We get it, already.
7:55: What’s the status of N.O. public schools?
7:56: Uh, bad, terrible, awful things.
Didn’t they privatize a lot of schools after K?
They’re still working on that. In progress.
7:57: We basically have 30+ school systems now.
OK, that’s the end of nice formatting. the feed is about to get raw-er.
19:58: I haven’t been paying much attention to Al. He just plugged his movie.
[19:58] : For those who thought Al should’ve gotten into the race, I think this speech would be a major disappointment.
[19:59] : G ***** has been tackling a technical issue on her end.
[19:59] : proverbs to hope. al talks in too many paragraphs. even makes ‘vote for obama’ sound stiff. The sunshine. Is leaving the stage.
[19:59] dsb: This is sort of Al 1.0, isn’t it? Wasn’t it, I should say.
[20:00] : Okay, Al, ya sold me. Now go get a Smoothie.
[20:00] dsb: With yogurt balls.
[20:00] chet_hix: You just can’t fake passion.
[20:00] chet_hix: That’s from the PBS commentary.
[20:01] dsb: Ouch. PBS?
[20:01] chet_hix: Dude thought Al was passionate.
[20:01] dsb: Really?
[20:01] dsb: I suppose he thinks PBS is passionate too.
[20:01] chet_hix: It’s on the TV.
[20:02] chet_hix: It’s THE ONLY CHANNEL I CAN GET.
[20:02] chet_hix: Okay … Favorite commentators? Any and all networks.
[20:04] chet_hix: Talking heads.
[20:04] gbitch: Avoid them all. They give me strokes. If I hear one more sentence from Pat Buchanan……
[20:05] chet_hix: Good advice.
[20:05] dsb: A Doobie Brother is about to play. Repubs will love that.
[20:05] gbitch: Oh. I didn’t realize Michael McDonald would be here. They didn’t put him on the agenda. I wonder the fuck why.
[20:06] gbitch: Ooooh…Lord
[20:06] chet_hix: Michael McDonald is huge. PBS is killing me here …
[20:06] gbitch: Oh just shit. I’m not feeling it with you, Michael. Is he singing out his nose?
[20:06] dsb: he’s got them swaying
[20:07] gbitch: Showed a lot of white people swaying. Where’s the rest of the convention?
[20:07] chet_hix: That guy made a zillion dollars singing through his nose.
[20:07] gbitch: Oh, there’s one.
[20:07] dsb: America.
[20:07] chet_hix: Are they selling booze at the stadium? Enquiring minds want to know.
[20:08] gbitch: I hope the hell so. These arre DEMOcrats.
[20:08] gbitch: LOL
[20:09] dsb: The funny ending to the song–we’re busting out laughing at the end of McDonald’s tune.
[20:09] chet_hix: AHHH! These PBS windbags are killing me!
[20:09] dsb: Yes, they can.
[20:11] dsb: On C-Span is a lot of ambient sounds–and no windbags.
[20:11] chet_hix: I can watch the same thing you guys are, but I have to run into the next room to do it!
[20:11] dsb: Is PBS showing Susan Eisenhower?
[20:12] chet_hix: Yeah. They just cut away.
[20:12] gbitch: Fuckers
[20:12] gbitch: C-SPAN shows all. It’s been lovely. The Repubs can’t even think about such ‘diversity.’
[20:12] chet_hix: I mean cut to it. She’s on.
[20:13] dsb: The audacity of the windbags.
[20:13] gbitch: Oh, I unfuck them then.
[20:14] gbitch: Temperament. Fancy words.
[20:14] chet_hix: You know what the problem is? They’re all chasing the teleprompter.
[20:15] gbitch: Si, se puede
[20:16] dsb: The marching of the generals.
[20:16] dsb: I think they’re going to sing too.
[20:16] dsb: General Fig Newton?
[20:17] chet_hix: The producer of this shindig is very concerned about losing the ADD vote.
[20:19] gbitch: ‘That leader was Barack Obama” squared.
[20:19] dsb: Of course a general “asks four questions” when he wonders who should be commander-in-chief.
[20:20] chet_hix: I served under Gen. Fig Newton.
[20:20] gbitch: ‘Our wounded veterans. And warriors.’
[20:22] gbitch: “Barack Obama is the leader the military can trust’ says the general.
[20:22] dsb: Generals marching off–music sounds a bit Monty Python-ish.
[20:23] gbitch: John Phillip Python Sousa
[20:23] gbitch: hix, still on PBS? They showing Biden?
[20:23] dsb: Biden should be good. He’s tuned up.
[20:24] chet_hix: O is doing very well with the active-duty personnel, right? Yeah, Biden is on.
[20:24] dsb: Active duty give him far more $$ than they they give McCain.
[20:24] chet_hix: Right.
[20:26] gbitch: I’mdoing a Gustav check. Biden got Harry Reid to stand up. He must be hot tonight.
[20:26] dsb: I bet Harry Reid has soft, soft hands.
[20:26] gbitch: For you maybe
[20:27] dsb: Something about Reid’s limp clapping told me that.
[20:27] chet_hix: That’s an awful lot of standing and sitting. I hope EMS is nearby.
[20:28] dsb: I bet PBS isn’t broadcasting Roy Gross.
[20:28] chet_hix: They are!
[20:28] dsb: Wow, go Roy!
[20:29] chet_hix: Roy is my favorite speaker so far 2nite …
[20:30] dsb: I agree, Roy was best.
[20:31] chet_hix: This is good.
[20:31] chet_hix: No, wait. It WAS good … wait, she’s back on the bogus email …
[20:32] gbitch: That’s right–tear ‘em a new one, Monica Early.
[20:32] chet_hix: Who is this person?
[20:32] dsb: Insane!
[20:32] dsb: I love it.
[20:32] dsb: Where’d Einstein fit into that?
[20:32] gbitch: She pulled Einstein out of nowhere.
[20:32] chet_hix: She’s like the crazy city council member …
[20:33] gbitch: She rocked!
[20:33] chet_hix: Pet stores!
[20:33] dsb: Janet Lynn Monaco, Melborne, FL.
[20:34] dsb: Must feel good to yell into the mic like that in front of so many people.
[20:34] gbitch: C-SPAN–you get the regular folks.
[20:35] dsb: Teresa Asenap
[20:35] dsb: from NM
[20:35] dsb: Ph.D
[20:36] gbitch: Then she gets her frown on.
[20:36] dsb: she’s working her arms
[20:36] gbitch: too much
[20:36] chet_hix: There’s your funding!
[20:37] chet_hix: Spanish!
[20:37] gbitch: With her Obama blue on
[20:37] dsb: Pam from NC
[20:38] dsb: “And wait till you hear what’s happening to me …”
[20:38] dsb: Pamela Cash-Roper, retired nurse from Pittsboro, NC
[20:38] chet_hix: I had this conversation yesterday at the Stop ‘n’ Go.
[20:39] chet_hix: All of these people had the same coach.
[20:39] dsb: Things were kicking until … husband’s heart problems … losing health ins …she had quad-bypass .. fucking med bills .. voted for Nixon, Reagan, Bush X2 “But I can’t afford 4 more years like this”
[20:40] gbitch: Nixon, Reagan, Bush and Bush, and she ‘cannot afford four more years like this…I can’t do it,. I can’t do it.’
[20:40] dsb: I type faster.
[20:40] gbitch: Maybe we should just make up a third persona and blog as one mind.
[20:40] chet_hix: Doesn’t this seem scripted beyond belief?
[20:42] gbitch: Barney. Oh, all very. very rehearsed. Teleprompter. Coaching. Rehearsals.
[20:42] gbitch: But Barney’s here for the Smith Barney joke.
[20:42] dsb: Got to love Barney.
[20:42] gbitch: ‘He put Smith Barney before Barney Smith.’
[20:42] gbitch: Barney, Barney, Barney, Barney…..
[20:43] chet_hix: Barney Fife, American.
[20:43] gbitch: Bruce Springsteen break
[20:43] dsb: No lawsuit forthcoming from Bruce.
[20:43] chet_hix: Did you see Melissa Ethridge doing BITUSA yesterday. It was hurtful.
[20:44] dsb: Missed that one.
[20:45] chet_hix: WHERE IS THE BOSS?
[20:45] dsb: Yeah, I don’t get why he isn’t there. Too famous?
[20:46] dsb: I thought he might make a surprise appearance.
[20:46] chet_hix: Black-Eyed Peas made it.
[20:47] gbitch: We’re still pre-Dick.
[20:47] dsb: TEXT MESSAGES
[20:49] dsb: John Lennon’s “Power to the People”
[20:49] gbitch: C-SPAN’s showing the whole stadium. It is a ridiculous amount of people.
[20:51] dsb: Look out, we just jumped to MSNBC. G Bitch may have a stroke of Buchanan starts up.
[20:51] gbitch: It’s easier to liveblog Republicans and pundits I hate. Oh, a channel shift. Do I hear CHRIS MATTHEWS? Wasn’t that mofo drink the other night?
[20:52] dsb: MSNBC’s Gregory: “Spike Lee taking his own amateur videos.” But, uh, Spike Lee isn’t an amateur, dude.
[20:52] chet_hix: Matthews is a party animal.
[20:52] gbitch: Matthews is an animal.
[20:52] dsb: Andrea Mitchell: outdoors makes it magical. Fire marshal has closed the doors.
[20:54] chet_hix: Are y’all getting the call-ins on c-span?
[20:55] dsb: “Ready-way made” Andrea Mitchell struggles to say “readymade way” in describing how the Obama campaign has given tickets to voters who agree to volunteer 6 hours for the campaign. Marcel Duchamp’s readymade as political organizing tool.
[20:56] chet_hix: Are y’all watching c-span or c-span2?
[20:56] dsb: c-span
[20:57] dsb: Dick Durbin time.
[20:57] chet_hix: I was on 2. Got it on both networks.
[20:58] chet_hix: If I turn the volume up on both TVs, there’s about a three-second lag. It’s pretty trippy.
[20:58] dsb: we went to MSNBC for a few minutes, but that’s over
[20:59] gbitch: Thank the gods.
[21:04] dsb: Ken Burns documentary about Obama.
[21:04] gbitch: Complete with dripping piano noises.
[21:06] gbitch: But it’s better than CHRIS MATTHEWS.
[21:07] chet_hix: Gotta paint with the big brush. I thought Matthews was half in the bag, too.
[21:07] gbitch: Obama is amazing because the Repubs have been so bloodless, so cruel, so full of lies and vinegar.
[21:08] chet_hix: Three decades of practice.
[21:11] dsb: Here he is.
[21:12] drjnola: The coronation is complete.
[21:12] chet_hix: Is that Coldplay?
[21:12] chet_hix: U2
[21:13] dsb: They have to cheer for Barack more than they cheered for Bill. I mean, come on.
[21:13] chet_hix: City of Blinding Lights.
[21:14] dsb: I want to clap.
[21:15] gbitch: Stop typing and clap aready.
[21:15] gbitch: Hillary’s props.
[21:16] gbitch: Clinton’s props. Tho both speeches were all about the I and me. Ted Kennedy–a great moment. The lion roared. And Biden, his 3-headed dog.
[21:18] dsb: You slept through Kerry, but he gave a great speech–TPM was all hot for him today.
[21:19] gbitch: Y’know, I like TPM but TPM ‘hot’ leaves me dry.
[21:19] dsb: Well, let’s just say TPM was very impressed by Kerry’s performance last night.
[21:19] gbitch: ‘We are better than these last 8 years. We are a better country than this.’
[21:19] gbitch: Glad to hear Kerry put it out there.
[21:20] gbitch: NO nod!
[21:20] dsb: People will complain he didn’t make it the center of his speech.
[21:21] gbitch: People will complain.
[21:21] gbitch: Always do.
[21:22] chet_hix: America, I am better on TV than any other presidential candidate. And I’m also a helluva good guy.
[21:24] gbitch: ‘ “a nation of whiners.”‘ boooo
[21:25] gbitch: The Republicans just wish they had someone a 1/4 as grand as Obama.
[21:25] chet_hix: Does not appear to be a teleprompter.
[21:25] chet_hix: Reading a teleprompter.
[21:26] gbitch: ‘What it really means it, you’re on your own….Born into poverty?…You are on your own. Well, it’s time for them to own their failure, It’s time for us to change America.”‘
[21:26] chet_hix: Own the failure. Boo-yah.
[21:27] gbitch: Obama don’t need no stinking teleprompter.
[21:27] dsb: ownership society = you’re on your own = Republicans own failures.
[21:28] chet_hix: He’s doing very well.
[21:28] dsb: Yeah, he’s looking at that camera. I remember watching Kerry in 2004. Looking and looking and never finding his eyes.
[21:30] dsb: Brilliant pivot off “celebrity.”
[21:31] gbitch: ‘Our government should work for us, not against us.’
[21:33] gbitch: ‘Listen now, I will cut taxes for 95% of working families.’
[21:33] chet_hix: He’s as good as Bill and Hillary.
[21:34] gbitch: Minus the narcissism
[21:34] dsb1: He gave the camera an extra look at the declaration of energy independence in 10 years.
[21:36] gbitch: ‘Now is not the time for small plans.’
[21:36] gbitch: Baracking the teacher vote.
[21:38] gbitch: ‘equal pay for an equal day’s work’–well hot damn.
[21:38] dsb: He’s fired up.
[21:38] gbitch: Me too–I could get paid better.
[21:41] gbitch: ‘fathers must take more responsibility to provide love and guidance to their children….Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility.’
[21:43] gbitch: McCain = The Past
[21:44] gbitch: ‘We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy.’
[21:44] chet_hix: Excellent.
[21:45] gbitch: Imagine–war with proper equipment and benefits at the end. Why is that so revolutionary?
[21:45] dsb: the bar is on the floor
[21:46] gbitch: ‘I will restore our moral standing’
[21:46] chet_hix: And how hard can that be?
21:47] chet_hix: Anything is better than BushCo.
[21:47] gbitch: ‘we all put our country first’
[21:48] gbitch: I’m always ready for tough choices.
[21:48] chet_hix: Common purpose … hell, yeah.
[21:49] dsb: wow, not running away from abortion and guns
[21:49] dsb: same sex marriage
[21:49] gbitch: the basic warrant—’they’ are human like us.
[21:49] gbitch: the warrant we need to start at in many things.
21:51] chet_hix: Stale tactics to scare voters … It’s about YOU
[21:52] dsb: “change doesn’t come from Washington, change comes to Washington”
[21:52] gbitch: ‘change happens…b/c they rise up and demand new leadership and new ideas…this is one of those moments.’
[21:53] gbitch: another NO nod
[21:54] chet_hix: Viva NO
[21:55] gbitch: ‘that better place around the bend…a promise that led workers to picket lines and women to reach for the ballot’ and the speech 45 years ago.
[21:55] dsb: deft
[21:56] chet_hix: Damn he’s good.
[21:56] gbitch: Bet your ass he is. Hello, President Obama.
[21:57] dsb: could he have been better, that is
[21:57] chet_hix: Home run.
[21:57] dsb: Country music meant to be reassuring, I imagine.
[21:57] gbitch: The Repubs will mock this moment, these moments, but only b/c they are jealous and bitterly fearful. They see the end.
[21:58] dsb: You’re right, it’s sheer desperation.
[21:58] gbitch: And the fireworks. And the girls without braids.
[21:58] gbitch: They dug their own graves.
[21:59] gbitch: Yay, attack dog!
[21:59] dsb: Fireworks to make up for the balloons that aren’t falling.
[21:59] gbitch: Confetti bombs even
[22:00] gbitch: Are balloons environmentally friendly?
[22:00] dsb: Because they’re outside there’s no balloons.
[22:00] chet_hix: The PBS drones are actually wondering where the balloons are …
[22:01] dsb: Politico actually had a short piece about the balloons today.
[22:01] gbitch: It’s like the 4th of July Olympics
[22:02] dsb: Music kind of gives it a thriller closing credits feel.
[22:02] gbitch: SOunds like John Williams
[22:02] chet_hix: From PBS: “And now we’re all ready to go home, so we”ll throw it over to our junior reporters.”
[22:03] dsb: PBS is sleepy.
[22:03] gbitch: Dicks.
[22:04] dsb: Watchout, MSNBC!
[22:04] chet_hix: I thought Barack did a terrific job.
[22:04] dsb: Matthews talking about attacking from a defensive position.
[22:04] gbitch: Oh shit. CHRIS MATTHEWS is back. ‘attack from a defensive position’—gurgrlgee
[22:05] gbitch: Barack rocked as always. He will kick McCain’s ass in debates. McCain has no chance.
[22:05] chet_hix: I didn’t hear that at all. But I haven’t been watching MSNBC.
[22:05] dsb: CNN
[22:05] gbitch: Don’t watch MSNBC.
[22:05] gbitch: Right, trigger thumb has moved on
[22:05] dsb: “He took on the celebrity issue.” Celebrity issue?
[22:06] chet_hix: Americans love celebrity.
[22:07] dsb: Back to MSNBC. Matthews & OIlberman: Obama asks McCain if he has the temperament to be prez?
[22:07] chet_hix: Did he do that?
[22:07] gbitch: No. But if he didn’t, what the hell would they talk about for the next 30-60 minutes?
Sometimes, the news makes you, the resto f the tiime, you make the news.
[22:08] dsb: Matthews: John McCain has to prove next week that he gets it.
[22:09] gbitch: He can’t b/c he doesn’t.
[22:09] dsb: Back to C-Span
[22:09] gbitch: Tiime to party!
[22:09] gbitch: ‘let us go forward’ to a drink. Yes, we can.
[22:10] chet_hix: The PBS spin on this thing is split, of course. One guy who said O failed, and another who said he didn’t.
[22:10] dsb: Motion to adjourn? Summarizing thoughts and take it off-blog?
[22:10] chet_hix: Yes.
[22:10] gbitch: I can’t wait to vote.
[22:11] chet_hix: Me and you both.
[22:11] dsb: I’m thinking I want to change registration to Dem from Ind so I can vote in the primary for House race (Dollar Bill Jefferson’s seat),
[22:12] dsb: Anyway, I think it’s pretty obvious Obama’s speech was masterful. Devastating, really.
Some people, maybe more than some, think that if The Shit went down, they’d be on the side of Righteous Rebellion, like the hero (always a hero) in a sci-fi-ish movie with lots of grungy interiors and wince-inducing character or place names. But many of them wouldn’t. In times of stress, many people capitulate or step back or refuse to discuss it or say it will pass and just leave it alone or let it slide. In times like that, and at others, it can feel like or be survival. And it’s usually your choice. Bad one sometimes, but there it is. Seen, dealt with, tolerated at least, it can then molt and shed.
One of my crackpot-ish hypotheses: Collaborators v. Non-Collaborators. No matter the love or respect for The Group, which is why we have society that works much of the time and I can be sure than most people stop at red lights and give me the correct change, there comes a point when people divide, between the ones who bend or pretend so well that they barely know they’re pretending anymore, and the ones who in some way, no matter how small but sometimes on a larger scale, refuse to capitulate, refuse to agree, refuse to make nice. If it’s wrong, it is. I can’t take that back for you. And I won’t lie to you about it. Or you. I don’t believe in I-thought-we-were-___. We could be ___. All the time.
But, see, I’m just built that way….
I am a sympathetic person. But I also believe in standards, limits, consequences, lumps taken, lessons learned. I’ll cry with you and still give you the F. I’ll feel my heart breaking apart for you but still say you need to swallow your consequences. My favorite The First 48 detective tells young men to “man up.” I feel that.
My students? Ouch. Some, maybe more than some, are really going to hate me in about 4 weeks.
photo courtesy of #9, used under this Creative Commons license
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His gesture was far more childish and self-willed than mine, and not only on the surface. When I compare the deeper conclusions that Hitler and I drew from the same painful experience—the one fury, defiance and the resolve to become a politician, the other doubt as to the validity of the rules of the game, and a horrified foreboding of the unpredictability of life—then I cannot help thinking that the reaction of the eleven-year-old boy was more mature than that of the twenty-nine-year-old adult.
Undoubtedly, at that moment it was written in the stars that I could never be on friendly terms with Hitler’s Reich (23).
Haffner, Sebastian. Defying Hitler: A Memoir. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2000, 2002.
Best moments for me:
(pic from Tin Can Trailer Trash)
Maitri’s liveblogging.
So? Get your ass over there.
***
John Barry: the levees that failed and flooded the 9th Ward, NO East, etc. were along canals, human-made outlets that benefit the entire nation.
His op-eds—always submitted with the title Things You Don’t Know about Katrina.
“If the geological facts were known”—dams in ND make us more vulnerable, our sediment is shunted away by jetties, etc.
After the storm, some conservatives wanted to move the Port of NO to Baton Rouge.
Add shipping stats—it is the busiest port in the world, only one that used to have a traffic light, carries more tonnage than any port in the world.
KC asks: what about house elevation as a tool to reduce risk? Barry laments there’s been no focused leadership—Ray? Where you at today? Nothing being done, nothing, he says. On marsh, as sea levels rise, what’s on it rises, too. On rock, you go under.
Amsterdam, Death Valley, Shanghai–below sea level. It’s what you do to protect the region, not whether or how far below sea level the place is.
1927—levees in St. Bernard Parish dynamited and flooded white people unnecessarily. NO stiffed those people on compensation. And that helped Huey Long get elected, though, JB says, he may’ve won anyway.
Imagine—Newt Gingrich (though not his party) thinks NO should be rebuilt.
No port or combination of ports can pick up the slack if something happens to our port.
***
Resident celebrity: Lee Zurik. Were people really booing? Or did the hoots echo poorly in this space?
Time to listen. Fend for yourselves.
If you’re reading, you probably already know Who I Really Am. Congratulations. Once it starts to slip, you can’t shove it back in. If you don’t know, trust me, the information will not be enlightening. You’d say, at most, Oh.
I’ve never been much for self-exposure, visibility, or “presence.” Bits of skin crawl when someone I do not recognize knows my name. But the Spot isn’t all of me, just a part, and a part I won’t deny but will not volunteer.
The Real Me tells people to suck her dick, too, you know.
photo courtesy of Jill Greenseth, used under this Creative Commons license
